


Kiss Me Softly & Let Me Go

by orphan_account



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Eventual Relationships, F/F, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, ML Secret Santa, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Past Relationship(s), Platonic Relationships, Post-Break Up, chlogami
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-12-25
Updated: 2019-12-25
Packaged: 2021-02-26 03:55:21
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,593
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21963178
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: Chloe doesn't know how to feel after Marinette ends things with her, after two years of being together and building their lives around each other.It takes quite a lot of help from her friends before she can get back up on her feet again, and a bit more before she can forgive and allow herself to open the door for others to come into her life.She finds someone unexpected waiting on the other side of that door.(For @chloe-is-a-lesbeean on Tumblr for the @mlsecretsanta gift exchange!)
Relationships: Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir & Chloé Bourgeois, Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir/Nino Lahiffe, Alya Césaire/Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug, Chloé Bourgeois & Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug, Chloé Bourgeois & Nino Lahiffe, Chloé Bourgeois/Kagami Tsurugi, Past Chloé Bourgeois/Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug
Comments: 3
Kudos: 34





	Kiss Me Softly & Let Me Go

**Author's Note:**

> You asked for the following (and I included): Alyanette, Chlogami, Ninoir | Fluff, Hurt/Comfort | Friendship/Family Bonding. Hope you enjoy!

* * *

"We spend so much time questioning

why they have chosen us to give their love to

We question it

We torture the gift for it

_But we never accept their answer."_

  * source: I Find You In The Darkness (Alfa)



* * *

When Chloe first met Marinette in école , she remembered how much anger she felt that _she_ was getting all the attention from the class, and she, the daughter of Paris’s beloved mayor, was getting little to _none_.

The only person who bothered to shower her with the attention she thought was the bare minimum she deserved was Sabrina Raincomprix, who stuck to Chloe like glue after that, waiting on her hand and foot for her next order.

Chloe admitted a few years after they graduated lycee, how much she wanted to pull one of Marinette’s _stupid_ pigtails off to have all eyes on her, even if it was in infamy.

She sat in a cafe, her coffee growing colder by the second, as she scrolled through Marinette’s timeline on Instagram, searching for any traces of herself in Marinette’s photos, furiously tapping on the screen with her manicured fingernails to reload it, but found _nothing_.

It reminded her of école all over again and she gripped her phone tightly in her hands, to the point where she only stopped once she heard the case crack slightly. 

So Marinette had not only blocked her number, but went through her Instagram to delete any picture with Chloe’s face in it?

“For _fuck’s sake_ , Dupain-Cheng. How could you have been so _cruel_ , so _irksome_ , so-” Chloe choked on her words and covered it by taking a swig of her coffee, only to spit it right back out. 

“Hey, Chlo. I heard you wanted to see me.” A warm, familiar voice greeted her quietly and out of breath, and he took the seat in front of her. “Nino just got back to me a couple minutes ago, confirming our next date, so I’m free until six p.m.”

“This won’t take long. Thank you for meeting me, Adrikins.” Chloe rolled her eyes and turned to face the window. Her voice was never this upset, usually shrill or impatient, anything other than unhappy. 

Chloe Bourgeois was never vulnerable in public, always having to be sharp and unwavering, and this would be no different.

“I heard about... _her_.” Adrien swallowed and bit his lip, not saying her name and somehow, in Chloe’s eyes, that only made it worse.

“You can say her name, Adrien. I’m _not_ going to claw your eyes out if you do, pinky promise.” Chloe laughed mirthlessly, and she could tell Adrien believed her as much as she believed in herself- which was to say, hardly.

But she was joking, _really_ , she told herself. 

Everyone around her had dropped Marinette’s name the past few weeks since their split more often and Chloe had kept her temper in check, like she had practiced with her therapist.

“You know I would never hurt you, love.” Chloe reassured him and began drumming her fingertips against the table, “I just wanted to get my things back and I’m assuming she gave them to you?”

“I have them in Kagami’s car. She gave me a lift here.”

“Oh?” Chloe smirked, clearly amused, and leaned forward, resting her chin on her hands. “Her mother _finally_ let her out of the house?”

“Chloe, don’t be so mean. I know you’ve never liked Kagami, but I assure you, she has nothing against you.”

“Adrikins, you might be a little dense, but she literally told me not to breathe the same fucking _air_ as her.” Chloe threw her hands in the air to show her exasperation and nearly knocked her cold coffee over. 

“She did not. I’m sure you misunderstood. Besides, we were all kids who didn’t know what we wanted, and I am here to tell you that she no longer feels any resentment towards you. She offers her sincerest apologies, and- oh my gosh, she’s outside with your things.”

He pointed behind her, towards the window and she turned again, to see Kagami outside of the cafe with a box marked, “Chloe’s things”, in Marinette’s sloppy handwriting.

“Ridiculous. Utterly ridiculous. Putting my stuff on display for people to see how pathetic I was.” Chloe scoffed and glanced down at her nails, “These are in need of going to the salon. Would she care to come with me?”

“Kagami’s not really into those things. She said she’d be willing to be your friend, but not to push your luck.”

“Well, who says I want her to be my friend, anyway? I don’t _need_ more friends. I just lost the first real friend I made outside of you, Adrien. I don’t need people to come in and out of my life like I’m one of my daddy’s hotels.” Chloe shuddered in disgust and Adrien raised a questioning eyebrow as he sipped his iced tea.

“Chloe, what did you discuss with your therapist?” Adrien queried and Chloe gave out a loud groan, but responded grudgingly, as she threw her hands up in the air in frustration.

“She _said_ I need to remember that not all people come and go, and it’s not bad to like people. That it’s not utterly ridiculous, if you must know.” 

“You fell in love and things didn’t work out. But things are going to get better.”

“You pinky promise?”

“I pinky promise.” Adrien nodded and hooked his pinky with hers across the table, “Besides, we’re all here for you, Chlo. And Mari will too, once you guys have given each other enough space to move on.”

“I don’t care if she never talks to me ever again. I don’t want to see her or talk to her. She’d have to have a lot of nerve to even breathe near me.” Chloe replied icily and stood up, “It was a pleasure seeing you, Adrikins, but I have a meeting that’s long overdue with daddy dear.”

“Are you sure you’re ready to see him? You-”

“I’m perfectly fine. There’s nothing wrong with dropping in to see him.”

“I’m here if you need anything.”

“I know, Adrikins.” She swooped down to plant a quick kiss on his cheek after gathering her things from her seat, before heading out, “Tell Nino I said hi.”

The tears were welling in her eyes, as the smell of croissants and macaroons hit her nose and someone called out an order, and Chloe remembered Marinette’s strange scent that she loved so much.

When she pushed open the door to face a new day, her new reality, the blinding sunlight made it hard to see for a second and she bumped into someone and dropped her phone.

“My baby!” Chloe yelled, more concerned about her phone’s state, that that of the person she had just bumped into. She picked it up and dusted it off, checking all around for any cracks on her phone case made out of diamonds.

“I’m sorry. I was just-”

Chloe knew that voice. She could easily identify it among a thousand screaming voices, having spent a year with her teasing, witty remarks, and flirting. She felt her cheeks burning and she felt the shame beat on her like the sun’s heat on her face.

“You ruined my phone case. Watch where you’re going, Dupain-Cheng. Clumsy, as always.” Chloe scoffed and made direct eye contact with Marinette, hoping to stare her down.

“Hey, babe. I just found parking and your mom called and asked if we were having dinner with them tonight. Nino and Adrien are stopping by.” Alya placed a kiss against Marinette’s cheek, too distracted on her phone to notice Chloe’s eyes shift from facing Marinette, to giving Alya a death glare.

_Count to ten and backwards._

_One_.

Alya finally met Chloe’s eyes, and they widened, appearing even wider than they already did behind those hideous glasses.

_Two_.

Chloe noticed the way Alya’s jaw clenched and her eyes become narrow, as she slipped her hand into Marinette’s protectively.

_Three_.

Chloe could make a scene, but was it worth it, if Marinette had still chosen someone else over her at the end of the day?

_Four_.

Was it working yet? She felt like the air was being sucked right out of her and she began to back away from them, right into the doorway.

_Five_.

They were both looking at her, while trying not to look at her, and that made it all the more worse. Their eyes were kind and bright and forgiving, all the things that Chloe just wasn’t.

_Six_.

Chloe began wringing her hands anxiously behind her back, her impulse telling her to snap at them, and her logic pulling her in the other direction. 

_Seven_.

Chloe’s eyes darted back and forth between the right and the left. She had placed herself in a situation she couldn’t escape from now.

_Eig-_

“C’mon. I’ve spent too long waiting for you, and we’ve got places to be, _babe_.” Kagami stood in between her and the girls and held her hand out for Chloe. “ I have places to be and I have to be back here in two hours to pick up Adrien. Pick the pace up, honeybee, before the train leaves.”

Chloe had never been a huge fan of the Ice Queen’s sharp edges, but at the moment, it’s what was saving her from a very uncomfortable situation.

Chloe begrudgingly and gingerly placed her hand in Kagami’s and Kagami was not hesitant at all. She, without another word, whisked Chloe away from Alya and Marinette, who Chloe was sure were staring at her with pity.

“You’re welcome.” Kagami gripped the steering wheel and raised a finger, “Please put your seatbelt on. I don’t want to get pulled over by Officer Rogers. He’s still as lively as he was twenty years ago, when he was much younger.”

Chloe sunk down in her seat, remembering how Sabrina had kicked her out of her life after lycee had ended. Chloe had understood then, how many years of friendship she had taken for granted. She understood that while she could change, it didn’t mean that the people she had hurt had to forgive her or allow her back into her life.

Sabrina had every right not to want to talk to Chloe and block her on all social medias. Chloe didn’t blame her one bit, after she had been coaxed to go to therapy by Adrien, who promised he’d be right outside and with her every step of the way. 

She apologized to Sabrina through her father, but she never received a reply.

Chloe hadn’t tried anymore, understanding Sabrina had moved on, but it still hurt to lose a friend...if she even had the right to call Sabrina a friend after everything.

“Earth to Chloe. Please put your seatbelt on. I need to be places and I don’t want to get pulled over.”

Chloe snapped out of her thoughts and swiftly clicked her seatbelt on. “Can you take me to-”

“I know where. Adrien already informed me while I waited for you.”

“O-okay.”

“Okay.”

The rest of the ride to her daddy’s hotel was filled with silence and Chloe tried to chat, but Kagami didn’t seem to want to humor her with her sharp tone, so Chloe stopped talking altogether and faced the window solemnly instead. 

Once they had arrived at the destination, Chloe found herself nearly biting her nails before Kagami placed a hand over her hands and placed them down on her lap.

“I don’t think you want to do that. Your nails are manicured and you’re visiting your father.” Kagami offered her a smile that reminded Chloe of the picture she had first taken with Marinette.

_Marinette_.

She was in her head again, in her thoughts, on her tongue. Chloe could feel Marinette’s hand slip into hers, as she closed her eyes and inhaled for four seconds, held it in for seven and let it go for eight. 

_What was it Marinette had told her every time she tried to make amends with her father?_ _  
  
_

_“Love, I’m positive you’ll be fine.” Marinette would stroke the back of her hand with her thumb, “Babe, believe me. You trust me, don’t you? I’m here.”_

Chloe opened her eyes again, and she found it was not Marinette’s bluebell eyes that were staring at her, waiting for her next move, but Kagami’s alluring brown ones.

“Would you like me to walk you to-”

“I’m fine.” Chloe waved her off and grabbed her purse from the back, “I’m late, but thank you, darling.” 

“Goodbye, Chloe.” 

“...Bye.” Chloe finally responded after a long pause and hopped off of Kagami’s car, “Thanks for the ride.”

“Anytime.” 

With that, Chloe was left in front of her daddy’s hotel, and Jean was standing there, older than before with white hairs settling and lacing themselves in between the black strands, waiting for her to come in. “Ah! Miss Chloe! We have missed you around here!”

The only adult in her home (if she could even call it that) who treated her with the same kindness and the same respect after she had come out.

The adult who had comforted her and had been like a father to her, in her darkest moments. 

“Jean!”

“It’s been a long time no see, Miss Chloe.” Jean bowed, but Chloe rushed forward to hug him, surprising him.

“You absolutely have to tell me what’s been going on in my absence, Jean!” Chloe flipped her hair over her shoulder dramatically trailed behind Jean, as he led her to the elevator.

“He’s not...happy at all with the way things have turned out for you. Especially since-”

“I know, Jean. But I wanted to thank you for always being kind to me.” Chloe gave him a smile before the elevator opened and he stepped back to allow her in. “I’ll send you a gift soon, Jean.”

“Thank you for visiting again, Miss Chloe. I know how hard these visits are for you.”

The door closed and Chloe was left alone, and her phone vibrated in her coat pocket. It was a text from an unknown number.

[ **Unknown** : Hey, where do you want me to leave your stuff?]

[ **Unknown** : Let me know asap. Or when you get the chance.]

It was Kagami and Chloe was about to type her a response back, when the elevator beeped, signaling her stop at the top, where father often held fancy events for exclusive celebrities only. From what she recalled, she was anything but exclusive.

“Chloe, be a dear and put down that phone. You’ll ruin your skin from staring at that bright phone all day!” Her mother’s obnoxious voice was the first to greet her, “Your father and I have agreed to not tear each other apart for your sake. So be grateful and sit down quickly.”

Chloe scrunched her nose in disgust and slipped her phone back into her pocket. “Whatever.”

“Your father has some guests coming over afternoon, so don’t argue and just listen to your father.”

Chloe rolled her eyes and took a seat, scooting away as far away as she could in the small, round table. “Hello, daddy.”

“Welcome, Miss. Bourgeois. You are an honored guest here, so please take a look at our menu and order.” Her father’s voice was distant, cold and uncaring. The same as it was when Chloe had told him she wasn’t straight.

A sharp, piercing scream was all the escaped Chloe’s lips, and she clenched her fists, tears beginning to squeeze out from her shut eyes.

* * *

**Author's Note:**

> Big thank you to @dreamingmermaidpotato on Tumblr for beta-reading this fic!


End file.
